The
Myth of Scientific Miracles in the Quran
A Logical Analysis
by
Mumin Salih
08/11/2005
Introduction
The claims that the Quran contains scientific miracles started to came
to light only recently. For 1400 years Muslims never thought of the Quran
as a book of scientific information and certainly did not find scientific
miracles in it. Even as recently as half a century ago Muslim scientists
read the Quran just like other Muslims did, without ever considering subjecting
it to scientific analysis. Had really they wanted, they could have easily
found at least a few scientific errors in the Quran, but they mostly preferred
to remain coy about this. Even when such errors were manifest, they
probably explained it with the alibi that the Quran was revealed
to 7th century Arabs and was not really meant to be a scientific
book, anyway.
We must remember that the divine miracles passed to us through religions
were never meant to prove the existence or capabilities of God.
They were meant to prove the authenticity of a particular prophet. In
this case the Quran was meant to prove that Mohammed was a prophet and
not an impostor. The Arabs before Muhammed believed in God, they even
called Him Allah. They also believed that Allah had created this world,
which in itself, is the proof of His existence.
We must also remember that were we to accept that the Quran is a divine
book, then it must be in full agreement with science. Even ninety-nine
percent agreement is not good enough. One mere single mistake is too many
because God could never make mistakes - not even a single one for that
matter. Therefore, it is logical to accept that the spotting of
only one mistake in the Quran is a sufficient proof that Quran is man
made, Mohammed is an impostor and Islam is a cult.
Scientific
Achievements in Ancient Civilizations
When Muslims say 'miracle' they mean that the Quran is in
agreement with science. Of course, any published book is expected to be
in agreement with the current science of its time. The possibility of
a miracle is considered only if a book predicts or explains scientific
discoveries that are not within current human knowledge of its time. This
principle, when applied to the Quran requires historical research to find
out what was the generally accepted information about the scientific issues
which were correctly mentioned in the Quran. It doesn't take
a genius to understand that when there is a scientific error, we don't
even have to go through the pain of historical research.
Most of us tend to think ancient civilizations as primitive, and its greatness
is merely relative to its time. Careful reading of history, however, will
surprise the researchers with the quality and volume of scientific progress
made in those ages. It seems that we are fooled by the scientific leaps
man made in the last two or three centuries of human civilization. We
mustn't forget that most of our recent scientific discoveries are
secondary to technological achievements. Technology has made it possible
for us to achieve in hours what used to be achieved in weeks.
The impressive engineering achievements of the past are just living reminders
of the sophisticated scientific thoughts behind them. They cannot be the
results of just pure hard labour only. Our current mathematical and physical
principles had its roots in ancient civilizations. We still think of literature
and philosophy of ancient civilizations as the best.
How Did The Issue of Scientific Miracles Come Up?
A
Historical Background
The Arab Nationalism/ The Decline of Islam
The Arab world passed through a brief period of renaissance during the
last century. The Arabs revolted against the Ottoman Empire to the painful
fact that they were well behind the west in science and technology. The
Europeans were seen by the Arabs as their national enemy and as the occupying
forces of the Arabs. At the same time they also realized they (the Arabs)
had a great deal to learn from the Europeans. Arab counties were struggling
to gain their independence, which they eventually achieved. The future
seemed to be bright but there was hard work to be done to catch up with
the west.
This period was marked with some decline in the interest in religion among
the Muslim Arabs. Muslim clerics were unable to provide answers to questions
of modern life and were often seen as obstacles to development. Consequently,
Muslim clerics lost some of their influence on the rest of the population,
and were often portrayed negatively in Arabic culture. The Muslim
brotherhood movement was banned and the general public looked at its
members with some suspicion.
In the Arabian Peninsula things were moving in another direction. The
Saudi family just got hold of the country, thanks to their alliance with
the members of the newly formed wahabi religious sect renowned
for applying Islam in its most strict form. This coincided with the discovery
of oil in the country, which led to wealth on a scale never known to the
Arabs before. To spoil the party for the Saudis, this also coincided with
the appearance in Egypt of President Nasser with his nationalist
agenda. Nasser's influence quickly covered the entire Arab world.
Saudi Arabia acquired the image of a backward country and had little influence
in the political stage. That was the age of Arab nationalism, which ended
by the death of its hero, Nasser, in 1970 only three years after the Arab's
defeat in 1967 war.
The Role of Saudi Arabia
The vacuum left was immediately filled by Saudi Arabia who aggressively
promoted its brand of Islam (Wahhabism) to the rest of the Arab
and Islamic worlds. Saudi Arabia was well placed to do that, thanks to
its financial muscle. Saudi Arabia had millions of foreign employees,
who although were largely Muslims, had little interest in religion. The
system in Saudi Arabia is that all Muslims must practice their religion,
in other words, all male Muslims must pray in mosques, a small inconvenience
for the good money to earn. All mosques in the country are run by
Saudi imams and strictly preach only wahabbi Islam with
no tolerance for the other sects of Islam. Even though Saudi Arabia recruited
many scholars from many Arab and Islamic countries to teach in its various
institutes, these scholars were converted and were allowed to teach
Islam only the wahabbi way. To their liking, this system resulted
in a whole generation that has been brainwashed. The process was made
easier by the fact that most of those millions of employees had only minimal
knowledge in Islam, and therefore, were unwilling and incapable to dispute
the new teachings.
Saudi Arabia applied those measures from the early days of its creation
but they were largely ineffective during the 50s and 60s. It was because
the Arabs were busy rallying behind Nasser in his push for Arab nationalism.
To make things even worse to the Saudis, Nasser managed to make Egypt
as the most influential Islamic country due to the presence in Egypt of
Al Azhar University, which was considered for hundreds of years
as the highest Islamic authority. In other words, Saudi Arabia was effectively
sidelined by Nasser, whose name will remain as one of the most hated names
to both the Saudis and Islamists.
All these changed after Nasser's death in 1970. Egypt stepped being
a leading force in the Arab and Islamic world, Al Azhar lost its
status to Saudi institutions, and many of its scholars were recruited
by Saudi Arabia and converted to preach their brand of Islam. The
once-banned radical Muslim brotherhood movement was resurrected.
These
were the perfect settings for the Islamic movements to make a comeback
with a vengeance. They promoted Islam aggressively - their message to
people was that all the problems in the Islamic world, including the defeat
of the Arabs in 1967, are due to the non-adherence to the strict teachings
of Islam. In this sense it is only fair to say that the Islamic movements
emerged as clear winners after 1967. They used the defeat to support their
argument in attacking nationalism and advocating Islamic fundamentalism
as an alternative.
Maurice Bucaille
Islamic movements were aware that Islam and science do not mix well, which
is hardly a problem to any true Muslim, who always see Islam to be right
and science to be wrong. However, if they want to make the religion more
acceptable to others, whether Muslims or non-Muslims there are many questions
to be answered. The rescue came from Maurice Bucaille, a French
doctor who worked for the Saudi king and wrote a book in the 1970s about
the Bible, the Quran and modern science. Oil money seems to have paid
well. To the Islamists this is like winning the jackpot.
Saudi Arabia established a generously financed government organization
whose purpose is not just solving the incompatibilities between the Quran
and science but to go even further and claim that the Quran has many scientific
miracles. They recruited Muslim scholars and scientists from around the
world and targeted western scientists. This strategy apparently brought
much successes.
To this point, I must say that I never met a friend or a colleague who
carefully had read Maurice Bucaille book, although they all know about
it. But that does not matter. What matters is the fact that a western
Christian has admitted that the Quran is scientifically accurate. If a
Muslim wrote such a book it would not make such an impact, as the
material contained is not the issue, the author is. Speaking of
myself I read the book during the height of my religious interest and
was never really convinced of the arguments in it, but who cares? What
matters is that there is an admission from a western Christian intellectual
that the Quran is correct, scientifically. If such an admission comes
from the enemy camp why should I question it? I believed all the claims
made in the book not because they convinced me but because they happened
to suit me.
One cannot help wondering if Maurice Bucaille really believed what he
claimed about the divine origin of the Quran? He must have read the Quran
carefully and came across with the many verses in which Allah makes it
clear that the unbelievers will be burnt in hell fire for eternity. For
this fear alone, at the least, Maurice Bucaille should have pronounced
the shahada to save his soul. Some Muslims claim that he had lately
converted to Islam, a claim that does not make any difference to this
argument. He certainly didn't know that he is going to live long enough
to re-think and convert to Islam, if it is true that he did.
Maurice Bucaille's position reminds us with another famous personality
who knew Allah but decided to be in opposition. No I did not mean
Prof. Keith Moore, I meant Iblis (the Satan) himself! The Satan's
attitude in opposing Allah remains a mystery to us all. He knew everything
about Allah's punishments and knew the consequences of his disobedience
still he did it - oppose Allah.
The Appearance of the
'Miracle Specialists'
Maurice Bucaille gave Islamic clerics a big boost. He gave them confidence
and proved them that their efforts were well-paid. This lead to the appearance
of a new breed of Muslim scholars called 'miracle specialists'
whose role is to spread this myth of Quranic miracles to Muslims and non-Muslims
everywhere in the world. With the purpose of strengthening their faith
and securing their conversion to wahabism, the Saudi sect of Islam,
their first target are the Muslims. Other targets are the non-Muslims
working in Saudi Arabia, who are given the message about the miracle myth
by every possible means. Non-Muslim conversions to Islam were generously
rewarded. Then of course, to use in their campaign, they targeted western
scientists to say some positive remarks about Islam.
Muslim miracle specialists developed an aggressive approach
in selling their lies. There are many aspects to their strategy none of
which are based on scientific analysis. They know their audience is basically
simple, ordinary folks who are unlikely to subject their claims to research
or scientific analysis. They inject scientific language and terminology
into ordinary Arabic words that have been taken completely out of context.
They will even tell a lie, yes a completely baseless lie to overwhelm
their simple-minded audience.
Exploring scientific miracles in the Quran, with its stars and celebrities
has become a big business in the Islamic world. In addition to the dedicated
pages in the newspapers and internet sites, in every Islamic country,
there are committed television programs and national meetings - just
to cover Islamic science!
The Strategy of the 'Miracle specialist'
Without any doubt in their minds, the miracle scientists believe that
the Quran is Allah's revelations to Mohammed. Therefore, everything
in the Quran must be absolutely accurate. This is their starting point,
which they fully believe to be an absolute fact. Everything else in life
must give in to maintain the integrity of this absolute belief. When the
Quran doesn't agree with commonsense or logical thinking then these
has to be adapted/modified to conform with the Quranic logic. If the Quran
disagrees with some scientific principles then a Muslim must dismiss those
scientific principles as wrong, even if they appear to be correct in view
of the overwhelming evidence. The scientific evidence might change in
the future (with Allah's willing), but the Quran will never change.
True Muslims will have no reservation in challenging the most basic scientific
fact, if it is not in line with the Quranic teachings. Their golden
rule is that Allah is always right while everything else can be wrong.
There is no problem with true Muslims in admitting that even when all
the available evidence points to the truth of a scientific fact, but if
that fact is not in line with Quranic teachings, it simply does not become
a fact at all! Any true Muslim will choose to be with Allah even when
it is against the whole world. However, these true Muslims understand
that not all Muslims have a perfect faith like theirs; therefore, proving
that Quran is in harmony with science is always welcome.
These so-called miracle specialists developed a strategy
to solve any incompatibility between Quran and science. The Quran is made
of words that cannot be changed while human understanding can be changed.
Arabic dictionaries and tafseer (interpretation) books are not divine;
therefore, can be changed.
Next in their strategy is to get of what appears like a stamp of
authority on whatever they want to say, and there is no shortage
of scientists who are willing to endorse, in return for money and fame,
whatever appeals to the miracle advocates. These scientists get invitations
to appear in lavishly organized meetings where the speakers make their
claims of Quranic agreements with science. The only other argument allowed
in such meetings is to praise their findings. The audience is usually
overwhelmed by an impressive introduction of a Muslim (or a non-Muslim)
scientist, typically a person who worked or qualified in the west, attended
many international meetings, appeared on many TV programs and has many
publications. This way, the audience is already prepared to trust whatever
this man is going to say. Their usual evidence is something like, 'as
we all know that this has been scientifically proven beyond doubt.'
Prophets and Miracles
The Quran has the stories of many prophets who were armed with miracles,
which serve the purpose of a divine stamp of authenticity. For example,
Moses had his famous stick, which converts to a snake and with which he
caused the sea to split. Sulaiman was in control of the wind and the jinn
and was able to understand the language of animals. Jesus had the capability
to cure the sick and wake up the dead. No human being who witnesses any
of those miracles can argue with it, although it was up to them whether
to believe in the prophet or not. When Moses converted his stick into
a snake no one in the audience said 'no you did not convert it to a
snake' and this seems to be consistent in all the miracle stories
told in the Quran.
The Quranic Puzzles
Such consistency seems to have been broken in the case of the miracles
attributed to the Quran itself. To appreciate a Quranic miracle
one needs to have an unlimited imagination and a willingness to believe
what is against rational thinking. If there are any miracles in
the Quran then only a few people could see them. But there aren't
any, and we will see why.
Are we supposed to believe that the Quran is a puzzle? Why Allah likes
to give us puzzles when it comes to the Quran? Why he doesn't make
it clear to all and every one of us so that we all understand it and agree
on its meaning? Is it a test of intelligence? So what about the rest of
us who are not intelligent enough to understand the miracle?
When a neutral person reads the Quran, the first question that arises
why does it contain so many scientific errors? Muslim clerics now want
us to believe that the Quran is not only free of scientific errors but
also has scientific miracles in it! They have adopted the strategy: attack
is the best form of defence.
The Quran describes itself as the clear book (alkitab
almubeen); in other words, it is written in clear language.
In theory, every one with a reasonable understanding of Arabic should
be able to understand the Quran. So, when one finds the Quran to
be ambiguous, it must be that either the Quran is not accurate in describing
itself as a clear book, therefore not a divine book, or those claims are
wrong, which again leads to the conclusion that it is not a divine book!
The Quran is claimed by Muslims to be Gods word to humanity to guide them
through this life. It is claimed to be like a manual that Muslims
refer to it whenever they needed it on life's issues. It is supposed
to be the chosen means of communication between God and humans. The Quran
keeps emphasising that it is a clear book (mubeen) and suitable
to all mankind. That is the theory; the reality is that all these claims
are far from true. It has been a useless manual for 1400 years,
never been a clear book and Muslims disagreed on its issues from the early
days of Islam. They even killed each other because of Quranic ambiguity!
The Quran is written in Arabic and has to be subjected to the rules of
the language. It is just unacceptable to allow various Islamic groups
to bring new meanings to Quranic verses to suit their agenda. Those
Muslims who claim the right to change the Quranic meanings will only prove
to us that this book is meaningless.
The Quran is in agreement with the Current science- of the 7th
century
A legitimate question to ask when considering the subject of the Quran
and science will be: Was the Quran in agreement with the prevailing scientific
knowledge of the 7th century Arabia? I think the answer is
YES. All the evidence we have is that the Quran did not make any
scientific statement that was seen absurd in its time. The Arabs
of Mecca were very critical to the Quran in many ways; for example, regarding
its composition or regarding the insults to their idols, but we do not
know of a single incident when the Arabs objected to a Quranic verse because
of a scientific issue. That tells us that the Quran did not say anything
that was outside the Arab's current scientific knowledge. From
the scientific point of view the Arabs of Mecca were very happy about
the Quran.
The Arabs of the 7th century heard Mohammed reciting the verses
describing the movement of the sun around a flat earth that is
stabilized
by placing mountains here and there. They heard Mohammed saying the earth
is like a carpet, they did not see anything unusual in that. They normally
sat on their carpets in the open and placed few stones (mountains) here
and there to stabilize it. They did not see anything unscientific in that.
They also heard the verses, without raising any eyebrows which describes
the development of the human embryo. However, 1400 years later, we see
a plethora of Muslim miracle scientists who claim that the Quran
is full with scientific knowledge which humans discovered only recently.
It is now claimed that the Quran contains over 1200 scientific verses!
Some miracle scientists even claim that all science is recorded in the
Quran!
There are hundreds of claims made by the miracle specialists; the most
quoted are probably the ones regarding the shape of the earth and the
development of the human embryo. I shall take these two to demonstrate
how those specialists wrap nonsense with modern scientific terminology
to overwhelm the simple audience and call it a miracle.
The Shape of the Earth
The following is a list of the verses referring to the shape of earth.
The Arabic words used in the Quran are in bold
red.
Q.
13:3 And
He it is who hath outstretched the earth, and placed on it the firm
mountains
Madda
Q.
15:19 And the earth have WE spread
out
Madadnaha
Q.
20:53 [since he is the One] Who
has laid out the earth as a carpet for you
Mahdan`
Q.
2:22 Who made the earth
a bed for you, and the heaven a roof
Firasha
Q. 43:10 (Yea, the same
that) has made for you the earth (like a carpet) spread out
Mahdan`
Q.
50:6-7 What, have they not beheld heaven
above them, how we have built it, and decked it out fair, and it has
no cracks? And the earth -- We stretched it forth, and cast on it
firm mountains, and we caused to grow therein of every joyous kind
Madadnaha
Q.
51:48 And the earth we have spread
out, and how excellently do we spread it out!
Farashnaha
Q.
71:19 And God has laid the earth
for you as a carpet
Bisata
Q.
78:6 Have WE not made
the earth as a bed, And the mountains as pegs
Mihada
Q.
79:27-30 What, are you stronger in constitution
or the heaven He built? He lifted up its vault, and levelled it,
and darkened its night, and brought forth its forenoon; and the
earth - after that He spread it out...
Dahaha
Q.
88:20 Nor even how the earth
has been flattened out?
Sutehat
Q.
91:5-6 By the heaven and that which built
it and by the earth and That which extended it!
Tahaha
Quran
described the shape of earth using the following Arabic words:
Madda, Madadnaha, Firasha, Mahdan, Farashnaha, Bisata,
Mihada, Dahaha, Tahaha and Sutehat.
Every one of them means FLAT.
I am trying to think of other words in the Arabic language that mean flat
but can't find anymore! It is clear that Allah, according to
the Quran wants to tell man that earth is flat, and he used all available
Arabic vocabulary to get the message across. This is precisely
what people understood from the Quran for 1400 years.
Bin Baz
The late sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz was in his time the highest
Islamic authority in Saudi Arabia, and to many Muslims in the whole world.
Sheikh Bin Baz was a man of unquestionable knowledge in Islam and the
Arabic language, and a very dedicated Muslim. As recently as 1982, he
issued a fatwa that earth is flat and those Muslims who say otherwise
contradict the Quranic teachings. Sheikh Bin Baz was aware that
scientific discoveries point to a round earth that orbits the sun. He
was a true devout Muslim who had to choose between man made scientific
discoveries and the Quranic revelations. Being a dedicated Muslim Sheikh
Bin Baz decided to side with Allah who does not do mistakes. In 1982 scientists
had no doubt about the shape of earth, but Sheikh Bin Baz, on the other
hand, had no doubt about the clarity of the Quranic revelations
that made him issue his fatwa with confidence. He knew how it is
embarrassing for him in the scientific circles but he was willing to face
the whole world because of his confidence in the Quran.
So how those miracle specialists extract a miracle from such a clear error?
As usual, they have to re-interpret the Quran, change the laws of the
language, even to extract new meanings from the words and to bring logical
thinking to an end. They say: When the Quran says earth is flat it means
the earth appears to be flat, so wherever you are on earth
it appears to you that the earth is flat, and thought of this could happen
only if the earth is round!!
But the Quranic verses do not mention the Arabic word for appear
(tahsabuha) at all. The Quran has used words to mean appear to you
in other verses and could have used them in this context to make its point,
but it didn't. Then what about those astronauts to whom the earth
does not appear to be flat but round?
Other Muslim apologists put another excuse for this error. They claim
that it would be unrealistic for the Quran to say the earth is round to
the 7th century Arabs, they would not believe it! But then,
this means the Quran was revealed only to confirm existing wrong ideas.
And why this gentle approach was not considered when it tells them that
birds and ants could speak to humans, or when it is told them that a human
(Mohammed) spent the night with Allah in the seventh heaven, and had a
sight-seeing tour to view hell and paradise?
Other apologists focus on one word, Dahaha. According to Arabic
dictionaries and tafseer books, this word also means flat. It is
the bed, which an ostrich prepares to lay its eggs. Those miracle experts
noticed this word eggs and eureka! It's a miracle! The Quran
knew 1400 years ago earth is round! But dahaha still means flat.
Other apologists looked everywhere in the Quran to find a word that can
possibly mean round and they found one in sura 39:5
He has created the Heavens and the Earth for Truth. He wraps the night
up in the day, and wraps the day up in the night. The word yukawer
translated here as wraps can also mean to make like a ball but that does
not refer to earth, it refers to the day and night. Miracle scientists
will see this as a hint made by the Quran 1400 years ago about the shape
of earth!
I just wonder if the earth is really flat and Allah wants to say it is
flat, how can he say it and in what expression? Are there any other
expressions left in the Arabic language that Allah has not used in the
Quran to give the meaning of flat? Unless of course those apologists
think that Allah should use the English word FLAT to convince them.
Development of the human embryo
The Quran described the development of the human embryo in a number of
verses similar to this one (Q.23: 12-14), which is the most quoted: "Verily
We created man from a product of wet earth, then placed him as a drop
of seed in a safe lodging, then We fashioned the drop a clot ('alaqa),
and of the clot ('alaqa) We fashioned a lump, and of the lump
We fashioned bones, and We clothed the bones (with) meat. Then We produced
it as another creation."
The way this verse is structured in Arabic means that Allah created man
from a drop which he placed in a safe place (we assume it is the uterus),
then this drop was created into something sticky (alaq), then this sticky
thing was made into a lump (which looks like something that has been chewed)
then this lump was fashioned into bone, then Allah dressed this bone with
flesh.
The above verse used few words notfa (drop), alaqa (sticky
thing, or blood clot), mudgha (lump). I don't see in this verse
or in all the other verses about this subject anything more than a description
of what ladies could describe after a miscarriage. Miscarriages can happen
at various stages of early pregnancy; so embryos look different in each
stage.
I keep looking at this verse trying to find a miracle. Humans since the
Stone Age must have noticed that man's semen was necessary for a woman
to get pregnant. They also must had noticed how embryos look like after
miscarriages at various stages of pregnancy. How else any woman in 7th
century Arabia would describe to us her understanding of the development
of the human embryo.
In connection with embryos, the Arabs heard Mohammed saying this and the
other verses, and they accepted it with no criticism whatsoever. The Arabs,
and indeed the Jewish tribes in Arabia, criticized Mohammed whenever he
said something that looks absurd to them. On this occasion, they did not.
There is not a shred of evidence that this verse was met with any criticism.
We must conclude that these verses must have agreed with the prevailing
knowledge of the 7th century.
Comparing with our time, we have to admit that the 7th century
knowledge, although appropriate for its time, was not accurate enough.
Where is the
science in the above verse or in other similar verses? Is there any clear
mention of the ovum? Why didn't Allah know that the ovum is as important
as the sperm is? The above verse clearly states that the lump was converted
into bones, which implies that the whole lump was converted into the skeletal
system, which is then dressed with flesh? This does not at all corroborate
with our current understanding of embryology.
It is quite amazing to note that the Quranic verses describing the embryological
development contain scientific errors that the miracle experts like to
see as a miracle. On this they made a remarkable success when Prof. Keith
Moore of Canada fell into the trap set for him by the Saudi organization
dealing with the Quranic miracles. To the satisfaction of the Saudis Prof.
Keith Moore shamelessly accepted that Quran has an accurate description
of the development of the embryo. Overnight, Prof. Moore became a celebrity
and was treated as a VIP in his frequent trips to Islamic countries. He
even published a special edition of his book, apparently financed by Bin
laden to whom he made an acknowledgement. Prof. Moore's statement
is widely used by Muslims who consider it as the end of discussion.
I do not claim for a minute any authority in the field of embryology,
but this is not about embryology. It is about commonsense. You don't
need to be an embryology genius to spot the nonsense of extracting a miracle
from a wrong 7th century statement. When the Saudis recruited
Prof. Moore to do his dirty part they meant just that. They wanted to
silence any freethinking about this subject and to stop any criticism
to their false claims.
Baucaille and Moore - do they believe their own claims?
These two western scientists have given the Saudi organization dealing
with Quranic miracles more than they could dream of. Their support to
Saudis false claims is of tremendous magnitude, and has indirectly helped
to fuel Islamic extremism. History will always have personalities like
these two who would rather succumb to the temptation of fame and money
rather than stand by their principles. Money, especially Arab/oil money,
it seems could really buy the conscience of the so-called celebrated scientists
and physicians.
These two scientists claimed that the Quran must have been revealed from
Allah. It does not matter if they are now Muslims or Christians. We know
they made their claims in the 70s and 80s and remained Christians for
a long time, probably until now!
We find this attitude difficult to digest. They must have read Allah's
threatening verses in the Quran regarding the severe punishments awaiting
the unbelievers. If they really believed that the Quran is a divine revelation
then they should know that Allah does not compromise with the unbelievers,
unless they also believe their good relations with the Saudis might make
Allah forgive them.
These two scientists made their claims and disappeared from the stage!
They only appeared in Islamic sponsored meetings and refuse any interviews.
They can only defend their claims in an Islamic environment when all they
hear is praise and complements.
Examples of Abuse of human intelligence and trust
Some Muslims now believe that there are hundreds of verses in the Quran
that contain scientific miracles. Some even go further and claim that
we should be able to find all human knowledge in the Quran. They support
their arguments by the Quranic verse that says "we revealed this
Quran to you, in it an explanation of everything" I shall discuss
some of the most quoted miracles as a demonstration of how some Muslims
wrap 7th century statements with modern science.
• When
some unbelievers challenged Mohammed to split the moon, he did it. The
moon was split 1400 years ago, then it was put back together. Only recently
Nasa discovered that the moon was split in the past. This was also
recorded in Chinese calendars.
This is a big lie. Nasa never claimed such non-sense, neither did the
Chinese. A splitting of the moon would have been seen by all nations around
the earth; also it would have serious consequences on earth. The Arabs
of Mecca never thought of the moon to be so massive in size.
•
Human astronauts heard azan (call for prayer) on the moon.
Neil Armstrong converted to Islam.
This is another big lie that was circulated widely by the Muslims. The
circulated story was so detailed that one wonders how those Muslims behind
it had the courage to do it. It was denied completely by Neil Armstrong,
but it shows how far the miracle scientists are prepared to go to claim
a victory.
• Aeroplane
technology predicted in the Quran. I saw this in an Islamic website and
was completely amazed. When I clicked to see the details I found a reference
to prophet's Sulaiman control of the wind, which is a hint, made by
the Quran that man will control air travel! The writer went on to explain
some details of aviation physics. Remember all the Quran mentioned was
the word wind! A typical example of extracting a miracle from none sense.
• Microchip
technology predicted in the Quran. The reference here is to the same story
of prophet Sulaiman when he entered the valley of ants and heard them
talking! The Quran only had to mention the word valley and Muslim scientists
will understand that it is a reference to the Silicon Valley, which is
the centre of microchip industry! Don't they experiment in robotic
insects in the Silicon Valley?
They pick up a word in the Quran and immediately cover it with scientific
language and move on to talk about complicated scientific principles.
In other words, they are saying to their simple audience: this one is
really too clear that we are sure you are convinced, let us move on to
the next!
Conclusion
The Quran is a 7th century book that is full with scientific,
historical and linguistic errors. It is impossible for any true, dedicated
scientist to see any miracles in such a book. It even fails the test of
morality when it asks humans to do acts against their instincts. Accepting
slavery, treatment of women as inferiors and intolerance to criticism
and freethinking are only few of the moral codes of the Quran. The Quran
does not only contain one or two scientific errors, it is full with them.
A book like this cannot be attributed to Allah. It is not divine but man-made,
and is badly made.
Mumin Salih's e-mail address
is: mumbo.mua884@googlemail.com
[KW: Neil Armstrong moon azan
Prophet Muhammad spit moon Koran Islam miracle science
Maurice Bucaille] |
